


School's a hell hole too.

by J1mmyNovak



Category: Supernatural, destiel - Fandom
Genre: High School, High School AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-03
Updated: 2014-02-11
Packaged: 2017-12-22 08:18:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/910970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J1mmyNovak/pseuds/J1mmyNovak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Young Sam and Dean Winchester are currently attending Notchdale Highschool while John is hunting locally. Its been a while since they've been on a proper job, so they've been at the school for four months, everyday a disappointment for Dean, but not so much for Sammy who's enjoying his time in education. Although one day a new student joins, who could possibly change Dean's mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Late.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean is very reluctant to go anywhere, let alone a bloody biology lesson led by a judgmental german man, but will his attitude change once he is assigned a new lab partner?

It was 8:32am on a Wednesday morning in January. The impala drove up to the school gates, stopped, and the engines turned off. Dean put his hands behind his head and turned to his 14 year old brother in the passenger seat.  
'Now Sammy, I don't want you getting in trouble.' Dean mocked, a smirk upon his lips. Sam shook his head.  
'Shut up.' he replied, getting out of the car and swinging his rucksack on his back. 'It’s been four months Dean; I think that’s past us now.'  
'Oh well you can never be too careful Sam, my boy.' Dean joked, getting out of the car himself, ruffling his brother’s hair. Sam just groaned and dodged his brother’s grasp. Suddenly a high pitch siren shot through the school and its grounds.  
'Crap.' Sam stated. 'Late again.'  
He started walking away from the impala, briskly towards the schools entrance.  
'Meet behind the cafeteria for lunch, kay?' Called Dean from behind, not having moved.  
Sam turned to catch his brother’s gaze and nodded before jogging off to find his registration group.  
Dean laughed to himself, never did he realise the opinions on school could vary so much throughout one family. Of course he wasn't, and never had been as into school as Sammy was. He couldn't really care less; he was only here because he had to be, for Sam's sake. School had never been a big part of his upbringing; it was only when Sam was of an age when he began asking questions did John even think about a real education. Dean had been fine the way they were, helping his dad, and looking after Sammy. That's all he would ever need to know how to do, so what was the point?  
Though Sam had never seen it that way, he was different. Dean had always known he was. Then again, he'd never met someone to be quite like himself, so I guess being unique was a common trait in the Winchester family. After a while, Dean sighed and locked the impala and began dragging himself towards the school doors.  
Once inside the traditional 1980s building, Dean made his way towards the front desk, where the sour faced Mrs. Manners awaited him.  
'Good morning Mrs. Manners, how are we today?' Asked Dean, the false sweetness was something he adored using at school. He found that is pissed people off, almost instantaneously, hence why he used it when speaking to almost everyone.  
'Much better than you'll be once the principal gets a hold of you Winchester. That’s the seventh late detention this month.' She complained, throwing him another 'late' form.  
'Well,' Dean began. 'What can I say? I'm a busy boy.'  
He signed his fake signature, and gave Mrs. Manners a wink before sauntering off down the corridor. He walked slowly, not wanting to get anywhere specific, anytime soon. During these pastimes Dean took into account each room he passed, the array of students they had at Notchdale was incredible. From the band groupies, to the computer club, and the Gilmore girls to the hockey players, there was everyone here. Regardless of all these people, Dean didn't get along with anyone. In fact, during those four months of Notchdale, Dean had already had had three fights, a new school record, according to the rest of the seniors. All fights had been with members of the football team, naturally, they weren't exactly Dean's best friend in lessons either. For each gym session, Dean never brought his kit, so he'd sit on the playing fields, flicking his lighter on and off, scaring the living crap out of the rest of the students.  
Although he didn't exactly get on with the boys of the school, he certainly had no problem with the ladies. Whether it was his devilish smile, or his mysterious sense of vulnerability, everywhere he went Dean always had girls around him. However, he just wasn't feeling it at Notchdale. He hadn't had any action for a while, which was odd for someone who is so popular in the bedroom department, it was just that there wasn't anyone who had caught his eye at Notchdale. And he was okay with that.  
As Dean made a left at the school's staircase he came across classroom H3. Sammy's homeroom. He peered inside as he walked past and sure enough there was Sammy sat in the middle row, reading J. R.R Tolkien. It had been their Mom's copy from a long time ago. Originally John had given it to Dean when they were on a long drive to somewhere, but he wasn't interested. John hadn't realised what a big read it was for Dean, or any kid of his age. Apart from Sam, of course. Dean had always known he was clever, ever since he started asking, at the age of four, the purpose of life. No big brother should ever be put in such a situation, unless the recipient craves the answer 'Because otherwise Batman wouldn't have a job, now shut up and eat your Cheetos.'  
Making a short detour through the back of the design lab, and past the janitor’s closet, Dean finally staggered into his first lesson. 15 minutes late.  
‘Ah Mr. Winchester, what an honour it is for you to grace us with your presence.’ Came a strong German accent.  
‘Gootentarg Mr. Koppellhoff.’ Replied Dean, without turning around, just giving his teacher a backwards wave as he made his way down the classroom.  
‘Your biology finals are in a couple of months and I haven’t seen any display of desire to actually attend these lessons Winchester.’ His teacher moaned, picking up his chalk and wagging it at Dean.  
‘That is because sir,’ he began. ‘I don’t possess the desire in the first place.’  
Mr. Koppellhoff narrowed his eyebrows, and sighed, he was used to the remarks like this by now.  
‘Sit down Winchester.’  
Dean did as he was told, taking a seat at an empty bench at the back of the room. As soon as his butt his chair, he was overcome with boredom. He glanced to his left, out of the ground floor window, speculating how easy it would be to jump out, fire up baby and just drive away. It was such a nice day as well, cold and crisp, ‘Perfect day for hunting’ as his dad would say. Dean knew he was different to the rest of his school colleagues; they all lived for spring break. That just wasn’t an option in the Winchester household.  
‘Today’s topic will be on animal speciation.’ Announced Mr. Koppellhoff.  
‘Fucks sake.’ Breathed Dean resting his head on the desk.  
‘To continue from our topic of evolution, I’d like you all to turn to page 257 in your textbooks, and read the suggestion activity section. For this you’ll need to be in partners, so pair up and start writing your database for your projects next month.’  
Dean leant back on his chair. Here we go again.  
Soon enough, there was a girl stood at the end of the bench. Cindy Lawson, a tall brunette from the Prom committee, was biting her lip in an attempt to the look seductive.  
‘Hiya Dean.’ She said.  
‘Hey there Cindy.’ He replied in monotone, looking away.  
‘This topic, boring isn’t it?’ Cindy asked gazing at him.  
‘Oh, I don’t know. It has its highlights.’ Dean retorted, flicking through his textbook and landing on a page about monkey families. He chuckled to himself.  
‘So I was thinking,’ Cindy continued. ‘That maybe, you’d like to be my partner.’  
She was standing directly in front of him now, curling her long hair around her index finger.  
Dean looked up at her, making no attempt to give her the wrong impression.  
‘You know what Cindy; I think Wills if begging for a partner like you.’ Dean replied, raising his eyebrows in the direction of the desk up ahead. Cindy followed his gaze to the front of the classroom, where stood William Gail.  
Wills was the senior Dean had punched within his first semester at Notchdale, so they weren’t exactly the best of friends. William looked up to see the two pairs of eyes staring at him, Dean took this opportunity to raise his hand and wave cheekily at his rival, as he knew it’d piss him off.  
Sure enough within five seconds of the gesture Wills was striding across the room.  
‘Heya Cindy.’ He said, putting his hand on the small of her back. ‘How’re you doing?’  
‘Good, yeah.’ Cindy replied, her speech to an absolute minimum.  
‘Oh hey Wills, do you wanna be my partner?’ Dean joked, looking at the jock, the sarcasm almost screaming throughout the room.  
‘Fuck off Winchester. Cinds, I was thinking, I could really use someone like you to help me on the database.’  
Cindy looked over at Dean as he gave a smirk to himself and started flicking at the pencil shavings on the desk.  
‘Well actually, I was kinda hoping…’ the girl began, before being carted off by Wills.  
Dean breathed out. He didn’t like working with people, he didn’t like talking to people. In fact, he wasn’t that keen on people in general. Soon enough he was drifting off again, into random thoughts on ghosts and ghouls, imaging how John was getting on with the Vampire in Boston.  
‘Listen up,’ came the sound of Mr. Koppellhoff’s dreary voice. ‘Who doesn’t have a partner for the speciation project?’  
Everyone fell silent, as they all knew the answer. Dean looked up willing to shoot anyone down with a glare if they said a word, and they all knew better. Well, all but one.  
‘Winchester doesn’t sir.’ Piped up Wills, turning to face him. ‘He’s all alone at the back there.’  
The expression on William’s face was one of power, and hilarity, while Dean was trying to stay blank as a canvas in order to not throttle him on school ground. He’d already been suspended for that.  
‘Very well Mr. Winchester, you can pair up with our new student for this semester. Ah, here he comes now.’  
Mr. Koppellhoff took a step forward, opening the door and welcoming the new person into the room.  
At that very moment the door swung open to expose the face of their new colleague. He was smaller than Dean, but only just. He had dark brown hair that looked like he’d just rolled out of bed, and a blank expression pressed across his face.  
‘Everyone this is,’ Mr. Koppellhoff looked down at his register. ‘Castiel? Is that how you pronounce it Castiel?’  
‘Yes, that is correct.’ The boy replied, a ring of monotony to his voice.  
There was a silence to the room as the rest of the class took in this new student.  
‘Okay Castiel, well we’re studying the topic of evolution this semester, do you know anything about it already…?’  
‘Of course, it is a change in the allelic frequencies.’ Interrupted Castiel. He looked up to see the title of our project, written on the blackboard, and continued. ‘But obviously reproductive isolation is necessary for speciation to occur.’  
Again, nobody said a thing. The new boy looked around the room, waiting for someone to do something. He seemed unaware that’d just blown the minds of nineteen seniors.  
It didn’t take that long for a response though…  
‘What a jerk off!’ cried William Gail, collapsing into laughter. Soon enough the rest of the room joined in with him, sniggering and pointing the finger at Castiel, all but Dean.  
He was impressed, to be perfectly honest. He’d never heard anything so clever come out of the mouths of anyone else at that dumb school, and the fact that Castiel hadn’t reacted to the teasing, made Dean smirk. William Gail wasn’t going to wrap his finger around this one, that’s for sure.  
‘Can we calm down now? Thank you.’ Said Mr. Koppellhoff, rolling his eyes. ‘Well, it looks like you’ll be fine on this project, you’ll be at the back there with Mr. Winchester.  
The german man, pointed towards the back of the room. Castiel followed his gaze, right into Dean’s eyeline. They starred at each other for a moment. Dean blinked, it was the first time he’d really noticed how blue the new boy’s eyes are. They held that gaze for a moment until someone in the room coughed and Dean resumed the position of starring at the desk top.  
‘Hopefully you can teach him a thing or too.’ Joked their teacher, crossing his arms as he sniggered to himself. Dean rolled his eyes, everyone at school thought he was dumb, but to be honest, he just didn’t care.  
‘Well, off you go then.’ Mr. Koppellhoff said, pushing Castiel forward.  
The new boy staggered down the aisle of desks, taking in all his new classmates. The only view that met his eye was that of the sneering faces of people like William Gail, who were already making gestures at him.  
Meanwhile Dean, still starring at the desktop, could hear him approaching. He didn’t look up, but waited until the footsteps stopped next to him. At which point, he cocked his head to the right to look up into Castiel’s eyes.  
‘Urm…may I?’ he asked, raising his eyebrows, and pointing towards the stool on the other side of Dean.  
Dean didn’t really take it in, and just nodded in response. He was still transfixed on Castiel’s face. Without realising he held the gaze for far too long before noticing he actually had to move himself to let the new boy sit down.  
‘Oh yeah, sure.’ Mumbled Dean, pushing his chair back with his feet.  
Castiel nodded and began to shimmy down the aisle between the two chairs and the desk, proving there wasn’t much space as he nearly landed in Dean’s lap.  
‘My apologies.’ He muttered as he eventually made it to his seat, sitting down on the out breath.  
‘Its fine…’ Dean replied, fiddling with his fingers.  
Dean was feeling strange. He didn’t know why, it was just an emotion he’d never really witnessed before. An overcoming urge to actually interact with someone. He hadn’t actually wanted to do that in a while. He’d noticed that about himself, that he was getting less sociable with each school that he and Sammy were thrown into. Dean finally thought he’d figured out why. It was because everyone was the same. Everywhere he went there would be a group of hot girls, a group of not-so hot girls, a group of hot boys, a group of not-so hot boys, and the pattern would never end. Wherever they went in the count be the cheerleaders in their short skirts sitting at the popular table in the cafeteria at lunch, with their jack-ass jock boyfriends, while the library dorks got their dinner money stolen and would cry in the bathroom each recess. This was the type of work Dean didn’t want to be associated with. He wanted to be out there with his Dad, driving around in the sex-machine of a car, ganking sons of bitches, doing what they do best. Although he knew that opinion didn’t run straight through his family. He knew Sammy never wanted a life like that, he was always interested in books and shit that seemed pointless to Dean, but Sammy was different too, he didn’t fit in with the rest of society. He was an outsider, like the rest of the family.  
The same seemed to apply to Castiel.  
He hadn’t reacted the way William Gail had provoked him to. He hadn’t, or didn’t seem to anyway, understand the names and gestures being thrown at him by the other students. He certainly didn’t look the same as the rest of them, dressed in smart pants and a crisp white shirt, thrown together with a blue tie, he looketable. The only thing that made him look a bit odd, around the edges, was his battered black jacket. It looked like something you’d wear to the office, and it looked like it had been owned fifty years previously. Dean didn’t exactly share the same taste in fashion as the rest of the school either, so the two of them, sat on the back bench of the room, looked like a right pair. A slight coughing noise from his left hand side, made Dean look up into Castiel's eyes once more. 'Shall we,' he began. 'Get started?' 


	2. Sammy's truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean reflects on his first encounter with the new boy, Castiel, but is soon distracted by his brother's decisions.

Finally at 1pm the bell rang for lunch. Dean lifted himself out of his seat in the English classroom with ease, being one of the first out of the door, as usual. The biology lesson felt long gone, even though it had only occured three periods before hand. Dean was annoyed that he was still dwelling on it. It was a fucking biology lesson, nothing special. The only difference was this new kid, and why did he deserve a place in Dean's memory? Something he wasn't quite sure about yet.  
It had been a quiet lesson, quite a productive one on Dean's behalf. In order to avoid the interaction with Castiel again, Dean actually had to do the work. A real turning point in his life. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to the new boy, he seemed alright, certainly wasn't the type of twat Dean usually meets in these places. He was just a bit, intense. He had an odd persona about him, that Dean wasn't used to.  
Once the bell had rung for the end of the bio lesson, Castiel had just sat there, watching as everyone else packed up their things and left. Shortly after observing their procedures, Castiel followed suit, copying what he' d just witnessed around him. It was like the kid had never been to school before. But who was Dean to judge? He wasn't exactly the model student either.

Wandering down the halls to the cafeteria, Dean's mind floated back to the conversation he'd had with his father, a day previously. It began with Dean asking John, as gently as he could, wondering how long he'd have to stay at that wretched school. John's reaction wasn't what Dean had been hoping for, but it was what he was expecting. It's always the same, Dad loses his temper and bellows at Dean for the slightest of things. The earliest memory Dean had of this was he, as a five year old boy, asking his dad what he was writing, when John was scribbling in his journal, and his father retorted with a very loud, anger filled lecture on why kids should 'mind their own damn business'.

In the end, John never gave Dean an answer, as he just walked out, leaving Dean and Sammy alone. Again.

As he was approaching the cafeteria, Dean could hear sniggers coming from behind him. He knew he should ignore it, he usually could, but today, he just wasn't in the mood.  
'How's your new boyfriend Winchester?' Came the voice of one William Gail. Dean turned to face him.  
'Bite me Wills.' He retorted.  
'Oh I think Castiel will be doing plenty of that.'  
In one swift movement Dean was across the hall and had William Gail by the throat against the lockers.  
'If I were you, I'd fuck off and leave me alone.' Spat Dean. Wills tried to move, he tried shoving Dean and getting free, but it just wasn't happening. Dean was too strong for him, he was too strong for anyone really. Even John sometimes.  
Wills looked up at Dean again, as he slowly released his grasp. Wills touched his throat to see if Dean had caused any permanent damage, before backing off down the hall.  
'This isn't over Winchester.' He whispered before retreating.  
Dean smirked to himself, Wills was no match for him, he was a dick, sure, but scary he was not. Dean continued to smile to himself as he turned and once again headed toward the cafeteria, but as he looked up, he stopped in his tracks.  
Castiel was stood about 50 foot away, down the hall starring at him. He'd seen the whole thing. He'd heard Wills stupid comments and watched as Dean nearly killed their classmate.  
Neither of them said a word.  
Castiel fixed his gaze onto Dean, and wouldn't't drop it. Dean noticed something about the way the boy stood, his posture was held as if on guard, like something might hit him at any moment.  
He knew he had to say something, he never normally justified his actions to anybody, but this felt different.  
He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath.  
'Look, it wasn't...'  
But Castiel was gone. Dean spun around expecting him to have just walked away, but he wasn't anywhere. It's as if he'd just flown away.

Trying to put the events behind him, Dean finally made his way to the cafeteria, walking passed all the tables of stereotypical students, and out of the double doors at the end of the room. This led out to the courtyard where, in summer, most students liked to sit and eat. But not today, only crazy people would sit outside in the middle of January. So of course, there were the Winchesters.  
Dean jumped the 'out of bounds' fence that separated the back of the cafeteria and the rest of the free space.  
As he reached the area, he could already see Sam's rucksack, hanging in the tree where it always was.  
'Hey Sammy.' Dean said, sitting down next to his brother, who was leaning against the cafeteria wall. As per usual, he had his nose buried in a book with a confused expression plastered across his face. 'Dean, do you know the definition of embryonic decay?' He asked looking up. 'Funny dude. Funny.' His brother retorted flicking him on the head, Sam rolled his eyes and closed his book. 'It's PB and J today. Okay?' Said Sammy, pulling a small package from his hoodie pocket. 'Perfect.' Replied Dean, smiling at his brother. Each day Dean would wake up Sammy, make breakfast, and drive him to school. Regardless of how much he loved to eat, he never had much time to feed himself, so Sam split his sandwich with him each day. Dean, at first would refuse, but after a while he'd get hungry and give in.

As they began to eat, laughing could be heard behind them, as an immediate response, Sam bowed his head, but Dean was confused. He turned to see where the noise was coming from and sure enough there were three boys, all in Sam's year group, sniggering at the brothers through the window. Dean braced himself to get up, but Sam put his arm on his brother's.  
'Don't Dean.' He said, 'please.'  
Dean turned to face his brother. Dean had fought loads of monsters in his 18 years, ganking them all, but never in all his life, had he seen so much fear in one persons eyes.  
'We're gunna get out of here Sammy. Soon as we can, we'll go.'  
Sam shook his head.  
'That's just the thing Dean.' Sam replied. 'I don't wanna move again. I really do like it here.'  
'Sam those dicks...' Dean began.  
'Those dicks are everywhere Dean. I don't just mean in school, but out there in the real world. I can handle those idiots, they're just out to annoy me. Let me tell you Dean, those 'dicks' are nothing compared to the shit we fight with Dad. Nothing.'  
There was a silence as Dean took in what his brother had been saying. He realised now how badly Sam wanted out. He didn't want to carry on with the family business, he wanted to lead a normal life. Sometimes Dean contemplated that future for himself, but it always came down to the same reason 'he'd seen too much'.  
Dean turned back to his brother, all ready to give him the 'John Winchester' speech about how they were helping people, when he saw a tear leak out of Sammy's eye.  
Quickly he wiped it away, sniffing it back up again. Dean leant into his brother.  
'Sammy...'  
'No, no.' Sam whispered, trying to pull away. Dean put his arm around his brother, pulling him in.  
'It's okay Sammy.' He breathed into his brother's hair. 'It's okay.'  
Soothing his younger brother while he cried in his arms.


	3. Introducing Cas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After realising his brother may not stick with him for as long as he'd hoped, Dean seeks friendship somewhere else for the first time in years. Who is he going to turn to?

Dean didn't tell John about Sammy's breakdown. He didn't wanna make things worse for the kid.  
That evening, the boys got home, and Dean made some Mac and cheese, from a powder that had been living in the motel cupboard for three months.  
At 10:30 he settled down to sharpen his pen knife, accompanied by a refreshing bottle of beer. He'd offered one to Sammy, but he'd refused. It wasn't the most responsible thing to do, but he was just following suit. Dean had had his first cold one before he was 10 years old. 

Sam sat across the room from his brother, attempting his math homework, but his mind was elsewhere.  
'Dean,' he began, putting down his pen.  
'Don't Sammy.' Came the reply.  
'But Dean...'  
'No Sam!' Shouted Dean, standing up. 'God dammit, not now. We're not gunna talk about today, okay? We both know what happened, and we both know why. So there's really no need, especially as Dad could walk in at any point, and I'm not risking his temper today.'  
Dean took a huge sip from his bottle and let out a sigh.  
'Dean, I just don't think I'm meant to be a hunter.' Sammy said.  
'What did I just say Sam?' Snapped Dean raising his voice again. This time Sam looked away, as Dean's facial expression softened.  
'Sammy,' he sighed getting up again. Sam turned away once more, a look of aggression building.  
'It's not that I don't get it, I do dude, really, its not your scene. But, its just, I need you man.' Dean admitted, his barrier coming down.  
'I don't know what I'd do without you.'  
Sam looked his brother in the eyes and saw the truth behind them. Secretly, Dean was just as scarred as him. But he was only scarred of loosing his brother.  
Sammy opened his mouth to respond, when there was a large bang of the door swinging open.  
'Boys?' Came the raspy voice of John.  
'Here Dad.' Replied Dean, snapping out of his emotional state.  
John walked into the room and lay his shot gun on the table.  
'Good day?' Asked his son.  
'Not bad.' Came the answer, 'Ron caught one up in DC so we're heading up town tomorrow. You boys okay?'  
'Yeah.' Replied Dean, getting him a bottle from the pack.  
'What about you Sam?' Asked his Dad, removing his leather jacket, and taking a seat next to his youngest son on the couch.  
'Okay.' Mumbled Sam, closing his math book.  
John looked at Dean, telepathically searching for a reason to explain the unresponsiveness of his youngest son.  
Dean just shrugged, he hated lying to his Dad, but he hated hurting Sammy even more.  
'I'm going to bed.' Sam announced, collecting up his books and walking through to the next room.  
John stood up and walked over to Dean.  
'You keeping an eye on him?' John asked.  
'Yes sir.' Dean retorted, taking a sip.  
'Good. He's in an bad place Dean.' John replied. 'Look after him.'  
Dean nodded in response.  
'Story of my life.' He whispered.  


The next day, the boys woke up and Dean carried out his daily routine in the absence of John who had already left for Washington.  
They walked outside, slamming the motel door and got in the car. Dean was so thankful that John had friends to carpool with, otherwise baby would've gone with him today. Going to school was bad, if he had to go to school without the Impala, well whose to say what he'd do.  
As they pulled away Dean looked at Sam, he hadn't said a word all morning, even now he was just sitting there, looking out of the window.  
'So,' began Dean. 'How about those Red Sox huh?'  
Sam turned to face his brother, raising his eyebrows.  
'Dean...'  
'I mean they're doing pretty good this season, right?'  
'DEAN.'  
Sam shouted his brother to a hault as Dean looked over at him.  
'You don't have to do this, and certainly not about sports, you don't even follow them.'  
'I do have to do this Sammy, you know why? Cos we're gunna have a god damn normal conversation like god damn normal people, and its gunna be great, put on some tunes and just talk okay?'  
Sam looked at his brother up and down contemplating the effects if he didn't abide by his brother's wishes.  
'Anyway, its the Knicks this season...'  
Dean smiled as he pressed the button on the dashboard and 100 decibels of ACDC came flooding out.

Making it to school with two minutes to spare, the Winchesters jumped out of the car and began their routine again. Sam ran off to find his homeroom, while Dean parked baby under the old birch tree behind the teacher's parking lot. Of course this was out of bounds, but nobody would dare touch the Impala while Dean was still walking the earth, unless they had a death wish.  
After shuffling along a couple of hallways, he eventually walked into his woodshop class, late, as per.  
Miss Hogarth opened the door for him.  
'Dean,' she scorned, following him into the room.  
'Miss.' he retorted in the same fashion.  
The young woman narrowed her eyes and sighed, as she pulled out a stool for him at the back of the class.  
'Now sit there, and try not to interrupt again, okay?'  
'Whatever you say Miss.' Dean said with a smirk.  
Miss Hogarth could have only been about 28, and he was certain that she had the hots for him. She would keep him behind on Tuesdays, making him carry boxes to her car. Dean had even had a dream about them getting it on in the supply closet, but in reality it just wasn't happening. Miss Hogarth was happily married with a little one on the way, not that Dean had noticed.  
'Okay, now that we're all here, I'd like to start today by welcoming our new student, Castiel, that is how you pronounce it?' Announced the teacher.  
Dean turned around to look to where she was pointing, and sure enough, back there in the far right corner, sat the new boy from yesterday, all alone clutching a chisel.  
'I understand you haven't worked on shop Castiel.' she continued handing him an apron.  
Castiel shook his head, still sitting perfectly still at the desk.  
'Well everyone else is in the middle of their semester projects, so if I give you maybe a design task, you can work on that instead?'  
Castiel looked around at the students, all of whom were waiting for his response, he eventually turned back to his teacher and nodded once more as approval.  
'Okay then, but the rest of you, you know what you're doing so, shop shop!' she joked, clapping her hands to get everyone motivated.  
In a quick second, everyone began to move, running around to get the right tools and best spot next to the belt sander, just itching to work on their products.  
Of course, as expected, Dean was not involved in this. He just sat there, at his desk, twiddling with the hammer left there by some other student.  
Several minutes passed, and he was once again bored, so looked up to see what his classmates were doing. Most of them had retired to the front of the room, ready to varnish the clocks and book ends they'd spent so long slaving over. All but Castiel. Who was still sat clutching a piece of paper Miss Hogarth had handed to him a couple of minutes earlier.  
Dean began to stare at the boy again, he didn't know why or what was making him do so, but there was something captivating about the mystery around the new kid, something that intrigued him. Castiel looked up at that moment, right in the direction of Dean, but this time Castiel was the first to buckle, Dean didn't look away as he had done the day before, he just held the gaze, starring into the very evident eyes of his new biology partner.  
He wondered why Castiel had been so quick to look away, then suddenly remember the events of yesterday involving William Gail.  
Without thinking Dean rose from his desk and strode over to Castiel, and took a seat across from him.  
'Hi.' he breathed, not certain of where to begin.  
Castiel looked up again, taking in Dean properly for the first time that day.  
'Urm,' he stuttered. 'Hello?'  
'Yesterday with that dick, Gail, did you hear any of it?'  
'Well I...'  
'Did you hear anything?'  
'Something about him 'needing to stay away from you'.' Admitted Castiel nervously, taking in Dean's demands.  
Dean breathed out deeply.  
'Good.' he replied, relieved.  
'And something about a boyfriend.' Castiel added quickly.  
'God dammit!' Dean's voice rose, as he slammed his hand down on the table. 'Look the guy's a douche, he says shit all the time.'  
Castiel cocked his head to the left, taking in each inch of Dean's face. This made the Winchester a bit uncomfortable.  
'What, I'm trying to say is...'  
Castiel continued to do it, narrowing eyebrows depicting the look of confusion upon his face.  
Dean let out a sigh, there was no hope in explaining himself, he could see that.  
'I'm Dean.' he shot out his hand for a handshake, and Castiel flinched at the quick action. After a couple of seconds, observing the situation, the new boy eventually smiled and reciprocated the motion.  
'Castiel.' he said.  
'I heard,' Began Dean. 'What kinda a name is that anyway?'  
'I was named by my father, he thought it was appropriate apparently.' Castiel admitted, not noticing the cynical tone to Dean's voice.  
'Well I was named after my Grandma, so we ain't all got it easy.' Dean joked, getting more comfortable on his seat. 'Why you here then? Last school chuck you out?'  
'I've never been to school before.'  
Dean raised his eyebrows.  
'Never?'  
'That's what I said.' the boy replied, narrowing his eyebrows into that confused persona again.  
Dean widened his expression, the only one he knew that didn't start school at the 'normal age' was, well, him.  
'Why the change of heart?' he asked.  
'My father said it was the right time.' he replied.  
'I know how that feels dude.' muttered Dean resting his hand in his eyes and rubbing his eyes. 'Well there ain't much to do here, if I'm honest.'  
'I understand we're here to learn.' said Castiel, looking around as if he still wasn't certain of where he was.  
'Well there's that,' Dean continued. 'Its not that great let me tell ya, and also you've already got William Gail on your back. It ain't gunna be fun.'  
'From what I gather he's known as a 'bully'.' Castiel whispered, leaning in to get Dean's full attention.  
This time it was Dean's turn to be confused, he wasn't sure Castiel had fully grasped the whole school atmosphere yet, he seemed very unaware of everything that happened, which now explained itself, once he understood he'd never previously been to school.  
'Yeah.' Agreed Dean. 'He's a dick, but he's stupid too. You really floored him with that science shit yesterday.'  
Dean laughed, remembering Wills' face when Castiel had opened his mouth for the first time.  
'I didn't mean to...' Said a worried Castiel.  
'No, its, its a good thing.' Dean smiled, patting the new boy's arm. Castiel looked at the action, as Dean quickly retracted his arm. Why had he done that? He hadn't had any real human interaction with someone who wasn't Sammy in months. Excluding the throat grabbing scene the day before.  
Dean looked away, trying to gather some thoughts quickly.  
'What I mean is,' he tried again. 'Gail isn't really a problem if you can handle it.'  
'I gather you can 'handle it'.' Retorted Castiel, intriuged.  
'What you saw yesterday, yeah that's how to handle it.' Dean admitted proud of his actions, beating up jocks was a pass time of his.  
Castiel nodded, seemingly taking this knowledge into account. Dean didn't really know where to continue the conversation, so ventured into a dangerous area, that he didn't much like himself, but there didn't seem like much else to say.  
'So, got anymore family? Other than your Dad?'  
Castiel looked away, out of the woodshop window, his gaze following a small bird as it hoped out of its nest into the cool breeze; flying away.  
'I have various brothers and sisters.' he admitted.  
Dean nodded, he'd never heard the word 'various' describe a family before.  
'What about you?' Castiel retorted, his attention fully back on Dean now, exploring his being with his eyes.  
'Oh yeah, I got my Dad and my little brother.' Dean mentioned, stroking the back of his neck, praying Castiel wouldn't go into anymore detail. He didn't.  
The two boys sat there for another half an hour, 'talking'; it wasn't so much a two-way conversation as it was Dean introducing Castiel to the school, and telling him what was right and wrong. Right was to back chat the teachers, a good response was 'why?' to everything they said. Wrong was handing in homework, getting places on time and eating lunch in the cafeteria. Anything but being a student really.  
'That should get you going for now.' Dean smirked to himself, he wasn't picking on Castiel's vulnerability, he was simply making him different to all the others that went to Notchdale, making him more socially acceptable with people like himself.  
'Thank you Dean that is very, insightful.' Castiel replied, a smile about his face.  
Dean raised his eyebrows, another thing he'd noticed, for someone who hadn't been to school before his vocabulary was extraordinary.  
Suddenly a bell sounded for the end of the period and Dean lifted himself from the desk.  
'Productive lesson.' he laughed, looking at the crumpled piece of paper Castiel had left in the middle of the desk.  
'Just as productive as yours I can imagine.' replied Castiel, pointing down to the table they'd just moved from.  
This was the first real comeback, a slightly sassy comment, that Dean has heard from Castiel. He found it hilarious, but laughed internally. Instead, he looked down to what Castiel was pointing at, some carvings in the wood that read 'Dean'. This what he'd been doing all period, chipping away at the desk while talking to the new boy.  
'I like to leave my mark, and what's better than a name?' Dean laughed, flicking away his pen knife. As they both reached the door of the classroom Dean thought of something and turned to Castiel.  
'Speaking of names, 'Castiel' its a bit of a mouthful, I think we need to do something about that.'  
Castiel just shrugged in reply.  
'How about Cas? That's cool. Short n' sweet.' Dean said, smirking at his own brilliance.  
Castiel nodded.  
'Yes,' he replied. 'Cas. I like it.'  
'Good,' Dean said, walking into the hallway. 'It suits you, I...'  
He turned to finish his sentence, but as he did so he noticed Cas was gone.


	4. A budding friendship.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After engaging in serious conversation with someone who isn't Sam, Dean considers the possibility of friendship with his new companion, but will it lead to bigger events?

Dean spun around on this heels, searching for Cas. Alas, he was, as he'd presumed gone.  
Just like the other day he seemed to vanish without a trace. Dean just shrugged to himself, and carried on walking down the hallway. Thinking about the previous hour, Dean suddenly realised that it had been him that provoked the conversation, he was the one that was feeding Cas the material to talk about, being completely honest, Dean was the one putting in the effort. It came as a realisation that Dean Winchester was actually trying to make a friend, an event that hadn't occurred in a very, very long time it would seem.  
'Well,' Dean muttered to himself. 'That was new.'  
He continued down the hallway, making a left turn out of the double doors and walking out into the open courtyard, in the way of his math lesson. As he looked over, he could see his brother approaching him, his head bowed, speedily walking in the direction of Dean.  
'Sammy.' His brother called, raising his hand, trying to capture his attention. 'Why the rush?'  
Sam didn't seem to hear him and continued at the pace he was currently traveling. Deliberately Dean stepped in from of him to stop him in his tracks. As an immediate reaction, Sam flinched, and looked up to see his elder brother standing over him.  
'Sam, what are you doing?' he questioned.  
'Going to my class Dean, what does it look like?' Came the sharp reply.  
Dean burrowed his eyebrows.  
'Alright dude, but its not the freaking speedway, why you gotta be there so fast?'  
Sam looked behind him, a look of worry spreading over his face.  
'Sam...' Dean said sternly. 'Those douchebags aren't following you are they?'  
Dean grabbed his brother's shoulder and moved him to one side, in order to see if anyone was behind them, planning on listening in.  
'No Dean.' murmured Sam, shrugging him off. 'I'm just...paranoid after yesterday. They don't usually bother me this much, I was just being stupid, just leave it.'  
Sam tried to make a quick escape and turned away to go to his class, when his brother stopped him.  
'Sam listen to me. I know you don't care about it? You've made it perfectly clear, but you know for a fact that you can easily take those guys, right? They're a piece of cake, or dare I say it, a piece of pie. I know you don't want me bothering them, but if it comes to it, I'll smack those sons of bitches as much as necessary, okay?'  
Dean may not have been William Shakespeare in the classroom, but he certainly had a way with words.  
Sam nodded in response, there was no point in arguing with his brother, he had come to learn.  
'Good.' Dean said, ruffling his brother's hair. 'Now get to class.'  
Doing as he was told, as he often did, Sammy ran off to the next block to study chemistry. Dean followed his brother with his eyes, just double checking that no eighth grade losers were chasing him. They weren't, so Dean carried on to his lesson. 

Math was the one place Dean felt most comfortable, only because he'd been put in the lowest class for math, so each and every student was a fuck-up or a nutcase, just like him. He felt more at home here than he did anywhere. Not that he actually interacted with the others. He just liked to observe.  
There was one girl, Tabitha Lawson that would sit on her desk cross legged, as apposed to a chair, and just rock back and forth. She'd talk normally and interact, but she just chose to sit like that. Scared the living shit out of anyone who was in the room, cos 'she looked like she was possessed', apparently. Although she didn't worry Dean, he would notice a real possession from miles away.  
There was someone else who'd caught Dean's eye as well, Martin Roebeck, a soccer student from Wisconsin, he acted and looked like a normal person, had the potential and creativity to be clever, but spent his free time lighting bugs on fire.  
Even in the classroom, he would find an ant, crawling around in the wood, bring out his lighter and watch it burn. That's what fascinated Dean, these people were classed as the 'unordinary', 'the weirdos', 'the outcasts' but they were really just 'different' and nobody had ever said that was bad.  
Dean walked into the room, winked at the already rocking Tabitha, and sat down next to Callum at the front of the class. Work was handed out, work wasn't completed, and the bell rang again at the end of the period.  
Walking out of the room Dean noticed a figure standing at the end of the hallway, as if waiting for someone, when he looked over he could have sworn he saw the faded black jacket of Castiel, but it could've been the trick of the light, it probably was, he thought as he walked out of the 80s building, ready to spend recess sitting in his car alone, jamming to Thin Lizzy.

More lessons came and went, lunch happened and Sam and Dean sat in their usual place, trying to forget the events of yesterday, while polishing off a brisket roll made by Sam in the early hours of the morning.  
Finally at the end of the day, last period, it was time for round two of biology class. It was the first time in ages that Dean had actually wanted to attend a lesson, it wasn't exactly a burning desire to go, but at least now he knew that he had someone to talk to.  
Walking into Mr. Koppellhoff's room again, Dean shot a sharp glance towards the front desk, specifically William Gail who looked down just at the right moment to avoid any evils from Dean.  
Taking his usual seat, Dean sat in await for his new partner.  
'Good afternoon everyone.' Mr. Koppellhoff began. 'Now today, I would like you to turn to the next page in the textbook, following yesterday's work on speciation and complete the statistics of animal mutilation in less developing countries. Okay, good, lets get started.'  
Once again, everyone jumped into this task with enthusiasm as Dean sat there bored. Cas hadn't turned up yet, and he found himself wondering where he might have got to.  
Just as his mind began to wander, the door opened and in walked the very person he'd been thinking of.  
'Ahh, Castiel, being late on your second day isn't good. I hope the traits of Mr. Winchester are not rubbing off on you.'  
'That's not the only thing that he's been rubbing.' came the hushed whisper of Wills.  
Everyone but their teacher had heard the comment, and all eyes turned towards Dean to see his reaction.  
No, he thought to himself. He would not give Wills the satisfaction. Quickly and without baring emotion Dean just looked away from his classmates and towards the front of the room, his knuckles white from the self-restraint of punching William Gail once again.  
Cas however was less subtle, he had clearly heard the comment and was now standing in front of him, the confused expression planted on his face.  
Wills looked up to see the new boy hovering over him, and he frowned.  
'What?' he spat.  
'You.' Cas said, 'You're the dick.'  
This spurred sudden bursts of laughter came throughout the classroom, as Wills rose to a stand.  
'You fucking what?' he replied.  
Dean looked up once he heard Cas's comment and started laughing hysterically. Cas hadn't meant it like that, he knew, he was simply just repeating the words that he himself had spoken unto him that very morning, but he said it in such a monotonous way that it made the comment even better.  
Cas was still standing his ground, he hadn't actually moved, even when Will stood up, and he was a good four inches taller than Cas.  
'I said, you're the dick.' Castiel repeated, as if Wills had actually been asking.  
Wills face burned with anger as he raised a fist. Dean quickly lept up, he'd got Cas into this, by telling him all that stuff about the school that morning, he wouldn't let him get wacked for it. He sped across the classroom and grabbed Wills arm to pull him out of the way.  
'Save it.' he spat, pushing his arm down.  
As Wills was about to respond Mr. Koppellhoff interjected.  
'GENTLEMEN, if we would kindly settle down, now Castiel I don't care if it is your second day, we do not accept that kind of language here at Notchdale.'  
Wills smirked at the thought of Cas's punishmet.  
'Now go to the principal's office.'  
Cas narrowed his eyebrows again, turning his gaze to their teacher, he looked even more confused than ever.  
Suddenly an idea came to Dean and he piped up.  
'He doesn't know where it is Mr. K.'  
'What?' replied their teacher, finally acknowledging Dean's presence.  
'He doesn't know where the office is. I'll take him there, so he doesn't get lost.' he suggested, walking towards the front of the room, where the two stood.  
'Take him there to suck him off, more like.' came another snide comment from Wills.  
Quickly, and smoothly Dean darted his elbow back in Wills ribcage and he crippled over.  
'Just trying to help you here sir.' Dean shouted over the painful cry's of William.  
Mr. Koppellhoff was too distracted by his screaming student to care.  
'Very well, but hurry straight back.' he muttered, waving his hand in the direction of the door.  
Taking the opportunity, Dean grabbed Cas by the jacket sleeve, and dragged him out into the hallway and slammed the door behind him. Dean turned to face him.  
'That,' he said. 'Was awesome.'  
A smile crept onto Dean's face, one of happiness that he hadn't felt for a long time.  
'What?' retorted Cas, looking around.  
'That, dude. It was brilliant, Wills was freaking fuming.' Dean laughed.  
'Oh. I hadn't noticed.' replied Cas looking in through the door to see if he could observe anything. 'All I had done was address him but the correct term, or so I thought it was correct.'  
Dean laughed harder.  
'Trust me, that's the right name for him.'  
The two of them stood in the hallway, while Dean finished laughing and turned back to Cas again.  
'So,' began Cas. 'You are taking me to the principal's office?'  
'Urm, no dude, I'm not. We're getting out of here.' Dean said, walking off down the hallway towards the big doors at the end.  
'But, where?' Cas asked, quickly hurrying after him.  
'I don't know man, out. We're not staying here, hey maybe we could get you some new clothes?' Dean suggested, tugging at Cas's beaten up old black jacket. Silently, and briskly he walked out of the doors of Notchdale High, followed by a very confused, but excited Castiel.

As they entered the town centre, Dean looked over at the passenger seat, Cas still bore that look of confusion, but there was a sparkle to his eye that made it seem like he enjoyed breaking the rules.  
'Okay, so we'll hit the mall, then get some grub.' Dean instructed as he parked his car on the side walk. Cas nodded, getting out.  
'Thank you for bringing me here Dean.' Cas said.  
Dean just laughed again.  
'That's okay dude, but you don't gotta say shit like that though.' He mentioned, patting him on the back.  
Cas nodded as he took in more information.  
'Come on.' Dean said, walking off down the high street.

After five minutes of twisting and turning down little alleyways, and nearly loosing each other twice, they made it to the mall.  
They walked inside the massive building, Cas taking in every little detail of the design and decoration.  
'And this is where people purchase their garments.' he thought aloud.  
Dean starred at him.  
'Yeah Cas, it is. You've never been shopping before?' asked Dean with a quizzical expression.  
Cas shook his head.  
'I can't say I have.' came his answer, still looking at each shop individually.  
'Well I'm no professional, but I can tell.' began Dean looking him up and down. 'I'm not feeling it Cas.'  
'I didn't ask you to feel anything?' Cas questioned, even more confused.  
There was a moment of silence while Dean came up with a response.  
'No, it doesn't, oh come on man, over there.' he turned on his heels and walked Cas into a small department store at the back of the building.  
The room was painted dark blue and had a wafting smell of car fumes, leaking about the place. The entire store was full of mens clothes, ranging in colour, sizing and type. There was shirts, pants, shorts, coats, bags, all sorts.  
'Perfect.' Dean whispered huskily, pushing Cas inside.  
'What is it we're looking for Dean?' Cas wondered, turning to face his new friend.  
'Just something that, suits you a little better. This,' He continued. 'It's not working on you, you look a bit 'fifty year old accountant'.'  
Dean let this comment sink with Castiel before continuing.  
'We just want something different.'  
'I choose clothing appropriate to my age.' Cas muttered, informing himself. 'Do I dress like the people at Notchdale?'  
'No!' replied Dean quickly, grabbing Cas's arm. 'No man, not like those dicks, we want something more interesting, something weird, but cool, something...something...something like that!'  
Dean now had his arm raised, signalling to something in the far corner of the store. Cas followed his gaze, and looked back at him.  
'That?' he asked, also pointing at a garment.  
'Yeah man, it'll be...good.' Dean finalized. 'Now, go try it on!'  
Dean pushed Cas toward the rail and into a changing room, it wasn't really neccersary but made more of an impact.  
After a minute or two, an assisant walked over to ask if Dean needed any help, but he politley informed her that his friend was trying something on. She nodded just as Castiel walked out of the small closet room.  
Both Dean and the assisant looked up.  
'Wow.' claimed the shop assisant. 'That trenchcoat looks great on you! Really brings out your eyes, don't you think?' she asked Dean before floating away to help other customers.  
'Yeah.' whispered Dean, not loud enough for anyone to hear.  
He didn't know what it was, but Dean was a little overwhelmed. It was a freaken coat, he told himself. A freaken coat, being worn by a freaken new kid that you barely know, what's wrong with you? He asked himself. Inside his head he was listening, thinking about how stupid it was for him to feel like this, even a big angry with himself. But as soon as he turned back to Cas, those feelings melted away, as if they'd never existed.  
'So does it look 'different'?' Cas asked, quoting Dean's earlier comment.  
'Yeah dude, it does.' retorted Dean standing up. 'You're still rocking the old man suit, but hey now you look like a fed, even better!'  
Cas looked up at Dean's smiling face, and into his eyes, just as he'd done the day before. They both stood stock still, reading each other, waiting for another to do something, but neither did. They didn't blink for such a time, that there was certainly a spark, right there in the corner of each eye, something magical was happening between the two of the them.  
'Excuse me sir?' came the cry of the shop assistant, both of them looked away instantaneouly. 'Would you like to buy that item?'  
'Yes!' Dean shouted, walking over to the counter. 'We would.'  
Cas followed Dean over to the desk and stood over him as the woman typed numbers into her cash register.  
'Well that'll be $30.95 please sir.' she asked.  
The look on Castiel's face faded when he vaguely remembered something about needing money for purchases, but Dean however didn't break a sweat, and handed over a piece of plastic as the woman swiped it through her machine.  
Cas looked on, amazed, he'd never seen anything like it.  
'That looks fine to me.' said the girl eventually, handing back the card to Dean. 'Y'all have a nice day now.'  
Dean winked at the woman, whilst sliding the card back in his pocket and walking out of the store. Cas followed suit, still turning to look around him, bemused at what just happened.  
'Dean,' he said, stopping to grab his attention. 'As I understand it, you need money to pay for things like this.'  
Dean looked back at him, smiling.  
'Yeah man, I paid by card.' he replied, swinging the plastic in front of Cas's face.  
'But how...'  
'Look dude, it doesn't matter how I paid for it, just think of it as a gift okay?' Dean said, raising his eyebrows to display his sincerity.  
Cas looked down at his new coat, then back up to Dean and nodded slowly.  
'A gift for me...?' he asked.  
'Sure man, for you.' Dean said, patting him on the shoulder.  
'Thank you Dean.' Cas began. 'I don't believe I have ever received a gift before, other than the gift of life, of course.'  
Dean chuckled to himself.  
'Sure dude, that's what friends are for.'


	5. Sam meets Cas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As a stronger bond between the Hunter and the new kid forms, Sam becomes skeptical of what Dean is trying to achieve, and worries how long this so called 'friendship' will last.

After running into a beaten up diner that suited the more 'motorcyclist demographic' Dean and Cas made a quick escape back to school in the Impala. On the way, Dean was slurping his milkshake when he turned to look at Cas, who had just been holding his burger for the past five minutes.  
'Eat it quick Cas, before it gets cold.' Dean instructed, flicking his eyes back to the road.  
Cas nodded to himself as he turned the burger over, and readied himself, he slowly brought it to his lips and took the first bite. The exact emotion and reaction could be read across Cas's face. Dean smirked.  
'See man, ' He said. 'This shit, is good.'  
Dean took another huge bite of his burger and rolled his eyes in passion. Food, one of the only things in life he could rely on.  
Cas nodded and swallowed the now chewed up meaty substance.  
'Yes Dean, I understand now.'  
Dean shook his head again, laughing at the way Cas spoke, it was different, but, as we've come to understand, Dean likes different.  
They continued to eat as Dean drove back along the highway to reach Notchdale to pick up Sam.

They made it back to school 15 minutes after the final bell had gone, and as they pulled into the parking lot, Dean could see Sam leaning against a tree, his backpack on the floor, to relieve the weight from the boy's shoulders. Dean got out of the car first.  
'Finally.' called Sammy, a slight sense of exasperation in his voice. 'You're not normally late Dean, not picking me up anyways.'  
Dean just shrugged, his hands in his pockets.  
'Sorry man, I guess we just lost track of time.' he admitted, not really thinking of anything else he could use as an excuse.  
'We? Who's we?...' Sam began, but stopped as he noticed someone else get out of the car.  
Cas closed the door as silently as he could, and then walked around to the other side of the chevy, so he was directly beside Dean.  
'You must be Sam.' he greeted, the same monotone coming through.  
Sam narrowed his eyebrows, just like Dean used to do.  
'Yeah.' he replied.  
'I'm Castiel.' said the new boy. He looked over at Dean. 'Cas, Dean calls me.'  
Dean looked down at this point, it wasn't that he'd told Sam, it was just the way Cas said it, making it sound like he was a pet and Dean was naming him for the first time.  
Sam looked over at his brother, searching his eyes for some answers, but no response was received, so the youngest Winchester just stood there, memorized in confusion. There was a slight silence for a moment, as neither of the three knew what to do, until Cas sharply turned and began walking back out of the parking lot.  
Dean turned around.  
'Cas.' he called, making him turn around. 'You don't want a ride?'  
Sam looked on from behind him, stunned. Dean never offered people into the Impala, infact he rarely let people near it, he knew something was up.  
Cas shook his head.  
'No thank you Dean, I can manage my journey from here thank you.' was the reply.  
Dean nodded slowly, taking in the response.  
'Okay, so, urm...' he replied. 'See you tomorrow.'  
This was all he said before he saw the swish of Cas's new trench coat dissapear down the road.  
Sam walked forward toward his brother, waiting for him to turn around, eventually Dean did, and he was greeted with an expression of true confusion.  
'What?' He asked, taking his hands out of his pockets, and opening up the car door again.  
'What?' repeated Sam. 'What? I'll tell you what Dean, who is that dude? And why is he in our car?'  
'My car Sammy.' Dean corrected as Sam sat down.  
'Yeah, yeah, whatever, who was he?'  
'Cas, he said.' said Dean reversing out of the parking lot, seemingly trying to throw off the conversation.  
'Yeah, but where'd be come from Dean? How'd you know him?' questioned Sam, still starring at his brother.  
'From school man, he's in my class.'  
'Dean, since when have you ever spoken to anyone at Notchdale?' Sam raised his voice, clearly exasperated, and in the mood for answers.

Dean just starred ahead through the windscreen. He didn't really know how to respond. Sammy was right, Dean had never really made any alternative interaction with anyone at school, unless it was beating them up, then suddenly out of the blue he just swans up and makes buddies with a new kid? It didn't really sound like Dean Winchester at all.

Dean continued to sit in silence, trying to block out the look of his brother's confused face.  
'Dean?' he continued, 'Are you listening? Who was that?'  
'God dammit Sam, he's a friend, okay? I am allowed to have friend's aren't I? You have a spotty kid from your french class, why can't there be someone I talk to while we're at that shitty place? God, just leave it.'  
Dean increased the speed after the outburst, hoping to make it back to the Motel quicker so they wouldn't have to be in the same situation for too much longer. Sam hadn't replied yet. He just sat and starred at his older brother. It wasn't like him to be this defensive, not over someone he'd just met anyway, but he had a point. Sam's only friend at Notchdale was Darren who was, like Dean said, in his languages class at school. It wasn't like they hung out tonnes, like normal friends would, but they were in a lot of the same classes and would eat lunch together when Dean bunked school. He was a mate, Sam thought, not someone he could trust with his family story, but someone to rely on. He was only finding it strange in Dean because it hadn't really happened before, not to his brother anyway, it was just new.  
'Okay.' Sam finally said, starring out of the wind screen. 'How'd you meet?'  
Dean eyed up his brother, and drew in his breath. He was hoping after he got an answer Sam would quit the conversation, but it didn't seem to go that way.  
'Biology class.' he replied snappily.  
'Right. When?'  
'What?' Dean looked at his brother, a slightly angry, yet confused expression across his face.  
'When'd you meet him Dean?' he repeated looking his brother in the eye.  
'Yesterday.' Dean muttered, turning a corner on the highway.  
'And you're already ditching with him?' Sam questioned, raising his eyebrows. Dean sensed that Sam was cynical and judging of the whole situation, and made it sound a lot more 'loser-y' than was originally intended.  
'We were kicked out of science class, okay man? It doesn't even freaken matter, just drop it Sammy.' Dean instructed.  
'But Dean...?'  
'Drop it.'

Sam didn't want to, but knew when as not to defy his brother. As for Dean, he couldn't stop thinking about it either. Just the memory of Cas' face as he gave him the over coat, and the fact that he looked so good in it, made Dean smile.


	6. Settling In

John didn't come home that evening. He was still in Washington running after supernatural creatures with some friends, leaving Dean to fend for Sam. Again.  
The task was pretty routine now, so it wasn't a big deal to the brothers, it felt normal.  
The next morning they were running late for school, with Sam fussing about the motel, searching high and low for his geometry book, Dean stood in the doorway rolling his eyes. The kid was under enough stress from his family life, and in a couple of weeks he had to sit his exams.  
The first set of exams that he'd really ever done, as the Winchesters moved about so much, they never stuck long enough to actually get full qualifications from any school.  
Dean had his mid-terms coming up too. Not that that would affect him in the slightest of ways. He was counting on John to move them away before that happens, and even if they are still around then he'll just bunk for a week, or however long these things usually last.  
As he thought over these plans in his head, his mind flashed over the thought of Cas. What would he do if Dean left so suddenly?  
He'd be an open target to the likes of William Gail, that's for sure. Dean shook his head, he didn't need to think about that for now, especially as John didn't have a clue where their next case would lead them.  
Sammy eventually located his math book, and the boys set off for Notchdale once more.  
It was a quiet journey in terms of conversation, although even if they had tried to speak to each other it would have been unlikely to have been heard over the sound of 'Whitesnake' being played very loudly from Dean's car stereo.

They pulled into the Notchdale parking lot, as Dean looked at Sam.  
'See ya at lunch?'  
'Won't you be with Cas?' Sam smirked sarcastically folding his arms and turning away.  
'Sam.' Dean retorted sternly, his eyebrows burrying together.  
'I can't anyway,' replied Sam, picking up his rucksack. 'Me and George have a Spanish assignment to finish, so we said we'd stay in class.'  
Dean rolled his eyes at Sam's educational commitment, and banged his hands on the steering wheel.  
'Fine.' he replied sharply.  
Sammy looked him up and down.  
'Now get to class.' Dean instructed, opening up Sammy's door.  
His brother hesitated, wondering whether to say something, apologise, or just talk, but he decided against it. Sam shut the door and ran to his home room.  
Dean watched his brother scurry away, as he banged his fist down hard on the dashboard.  
'Fucks sake!' he bellowed slamming his head against the steering wheel.  
He hated fighting with Sammy, he was the only one his brother could rely on. Dean thought for a moment, wondering if this new found friendship could ultimately ruin his relationship with Sammy. Although he soon shook this thought off, why should he deny himself attention for the sake of looking after his brother for the 14th year in a row.  
Staying in his car for another 10 minutes, Dean lay his head back on the seat and closed his eyes, trying to block out the rest of the world for just a while.

'Dean?' came a voice.  
Dean jumped high out of his seat, therefore banging his head on the top of the impala.  
'Son of a bitch!' he screamed, rubbing his hair. He turned to his right, trying to see who it was out of the window. After a few moments of looking he turned back to the dashboard, a look of confusion playing on his face. From the corner of his eye, he saw something move in the passenger seat, as he turned fully he came face to face with Castiel's eyes.  
'Fuck me, Cas!' Dean cried again, clutching at his chest in shock. Cas' confused expression returned as he took into account Dean's choice of words. Luckily for Dean he decided to proceed without mentioning it further.  
'Hello Dean.'  
'Hey Cas,' he replied, still breathing deeply. 'What are you doing?'  
'I'm sitting in your car.' Cas said, looking around the Impala.  
Dean rolled his eyes.  
'Yes man, but why?'  
'Oh.' said Cas. 'I saw you sitting here, and I thought I'd join you.'  
He smiled a toothy grin, that made Dean bow his head and smirk.  
'Alright man.' he replied, a glint in his eye.

'So,' Cas continued. 'Why are you not in class Dean?'  
Dean sighed, and looked up.  
'I didn't wanna go man.'  
Cas nodded, as Dean turned to him.  
'What about you Cas? You're supposed to be the good newbie, aren't you?' Dean smirked.  
Cas shrugged.  
'I did not want to go if you weren't there.'  
There was a short silence as Dean held his gaze with Castiel. Looking passed the confusion and lack of knowledge of social output, Cas seemed to be the most truthful person Dean had ever met. He didn't know why, but Cas didn't put on a front with anyone, everyone he spoke to, he seemed to trust with his life. Dean didn't judge him for this, infact Cas turned out to be one of the only people that Dean 100% believed.  
To stop the prolonged eye contact, Dean turned back to the dashboard and turned the keys in the exhaust.  
'Dean, what is going on?' asked Cas, looking around him.  
'If neither of us is going to class man, lets go do something else.' Dean replied, backing out of the school's driveway.  
Cas nodded again, not fully understanding the conversation still.

It was a cold day, the ones Dean enjoyed the most. It meant that there weren't that many people around, no people to judge, no people to stare and no people to talk to. Just the way he liked it.  
It didn't make much sense really; this new found friendship between the boys. It was something nobody would have expected, especially not the foul-mouthed ladies man who listened to ACDC too much, he wasn't ever expecting any friendship to sprout from anything, but it seemed to be working. Which was good enough for him.


	7. First Date

The boys drove into town for the second time in two days. After the clothes shopping of yesterday Dean decided he wanted to hit the bars; Castiel was in for a real treat. Cas seemed like one of those guys who didn't even know what alcohol was, let alone down six beers in a night like Dean commonly did.

The day was one of those grey ones, not cold, but you needed layers. Or a leather jacket. Or a trench coat. 

The impala pulled into a parking lot, a mile down from the mall they'd visited yesterday and Dean turned to his new friend.

'You ever been to Joe's Place?' he asked.  
Castiel replied with that ever so common look of burrowed eyebrows and un-easy expression.  
'I don't believe I understand Dean.'  
'Never mind man, come on.' Dean replied, chuckling to himself and pushing Cas out of the car.

It started raining then, a cold, hard rain that wouldn't give up easily, but that didn't seem to bother either of the boys. As they wandered towards the main road, Dean cocked his head to the left to look at Cas once more. The rain was coming down heavy now , the weight of it pressing on Castiel's hair and cascading down his cheekbones and into his jacket. He was cold, and  soaking wet, pulling his new coat around him. The light reflected off of his nose, the rain lightening up his face in a way Dean had never seen before.  
The shape of his face resembled that of a painting he'd seen in a gallery once with his dad. They were on a hunt, looking for a ghost in the basement of Boston's Artwork Museum, he could have only have been about nine at the time, armed with a knife and a bag of rock-salt as usual.

It was midnight and Sammy was asleep in the Impala outside, making it all the more important to be quick, Dean thought. John was armed and ready, holding his journal ahead of him as he ran down the Museum stairs, calling after Dean to follow suit. The nine year old Winchester was less excited than he would usually be, probably due to the lack of sleep he'd been getting after soothing Sammy each and every night after his nightmares. That was always Dean's job, John didn't even know Sam was scared of the dark.  
Regardless, Dean ran down the stairs after his father brandishing a torch, ready to gank whatever it was down in the cellar.

He couldn't remember much else of this case, only that someone, or something attacked them when they were in that basement, something caught Dean off-guard, throwing him into a heap at the side of the room. He blacked out after that, and woke up to the sound of John's voice shaking him. He was angry. As per, Dean thought, he was angry that he hadn't been looking and how he'd just left it all to John, as he tried to get up and help his father collect their weapons he accidentally dropped a pistol, making a shot run out through the entire museum. 'For God's sake Dean, you really are a useless shit.'  
Dean didn't recall a lot of things in much detail but he remembered that. The first time his father ever voiced his real thoughts. This is what he believed all along, and this time he decided to let his son know. Nine year old Dean knew, and accepted how much of a shit he was, and he never denied that acceptance to this day.  
John left, taking everything ghost related with him back to the car without even another word to his son. Dean stood for a couple of minutes, contemplating never leaving and living in an art museum cellar for the rest of his life, where he could never fuck anything up again. Of course this didn't last for long as he heard the screech of John calling for him and the cry of a boy needing his brother. Sighing, Dean hauled his way up the staircase once more, dragging his knife behind him. Just as he was about to jump out of the bottom floor window, something caught his eye. A big white sheet was propped up on a wooden board on the other side of the room. The faint morning light was shining through the bay windows of the room, illuminating the golden paint that could be seen at the corner where the sheet had fallen slightly. Intrigued, because why wouldn't he be, Dean walked up to, it was huge, an oil painting he presumed. It wasn't really Winchester style to wander around art galleries admiring the work of a bloke who'd been dead for 300 years. However, there was something about the way the light was focused on this particular piece, almost enlightening the room- a sign from the heavens. Each and every step Dean made, a floorboard creeked. He didn't mean to be slow, he knew he should've been quick due to the angry parent he had waiting for him outside, although something stopped him from hurrying. The feeling he got when he edged ever closer to the painting was not just one of excitement, or fear for what he might find, but it was a sense of relief. There was a voice in his head, or in his heart, he didn't know, that told him that this would help, this would take the pain away, regardless of the fact he still didn't know what it was. Another loud honk from John outside made Dean finally make the decision to yank the sheet off and reveal whatever it. So he did. He hadn't known what to expect really, whether it be the Mona Lisa or a battlefield from somewhere like England, although it was neither of these. What starred back at him was a scene of adulation. There was a man in the centre, holding up his arms, much like those statues of Jesus that Dean had seen outside churches. Surrounding this figure were others, lots of others, dressed in white robes, kneeling down looking at this man with pure devotion. All their facial expressions were those of worship and glory, their positions showed their lack of authority when in the presence of such a character as this man. Beside the main figure were two others, lower down of course, but standing either of him, these two both held very different views on the scene. The one to the left had black hair, had his hands clasped together in a position of prayer, whilst looking up at the man on his side smiling with the rest of the people. However, the figure on the other side was different. He held his hands behind his back, as if trying to hide something, his sandy-coloured hair caught the light of the the scene as his head was turned away from the man, unlike the other, his facial expression was one of sadness, or anger, Dean couldn't quite make it out, but ultimately decided that he was lonely beyond anything else. Dean starred at three main profiles in the painting, trying to find a the reason behind it all when suddenly in the corner of his eye he noticed a shadow in the picture. Someone placed behind all the others, looking onwards in a sense of interest, but standing away from the crowds to suggest less interaction. His facial expression was one of confusion and worry, nothing like the glorification of the figure that the rest of the people were giving him. This man alone in the corner of the painting looked younger, something kept him apart from this life with these figures, something differed in him, although the nine year old Dean just couldn't put his finger on in. After what felt like seconds, although had been a good few minutes, John came storming back into the Museum and dragged Dean to the Impala and drove away. He never saw that painting again. 'Dean?' Cas asked, bringing him back to reality. 'What is it you're looking at?' 'Nothing.' Dean murmured, bringing his hand up to his head. 'Just remembered something, that's all.' Cas continued to burrow his expression, trying to get a direct answer out of his friend. 'Come on man I'm cold, lets get inside and drink ourselves warm.'

Dean walked on, quickening his pace. He wanted Cas to follow, but not to continue with the conversation.

After a couple of minutes the boys made in to Joe's. Upon entrance it looked like another dingy bar, but in reality was quite a lot cosier.  
The walls were painted a dark blue, with a long brown oak bar standing in the centre of the room, with high wooden stalls around it. The tables dotted around were more like diner booths, making the whole place seem a lot more safe, something one would hardly associate with Dean Winchester.  
On the walls were pictures, posters of bands and films, a lot were identical to Dean's music taste. A couple of ACDC tour posters were stuck above the booth that the boys approached, Dean chuckled at the rock decoration- he owned every single one of these albums, legitimately paid for, or shoplifted didn't matter, he still had them.  
'Take a seat Cas.' he instructed sliding into the leather seat. Cas did the same, looking around, it was evident he'd never seen a thing like it before.  
'What d'ya think?' Dean asked, a twinkle in his eyes.  
'It seems very...' Cas searched for the correct response, 'rebellious.'  
Dean threw back his head into a cackle.  
'Well suits us down then don't it.' he replied, winking.  
At that point a waitress approached, a petite blonde with a pixie crop holding some empty glasses from the previous table.  
'Hiya boys, I'm Meg, there anything I can get you?' she asked, raising her eyebrows.  
'Bring us two bottles of your finest beer, if you will.' requested Dean stretching his arm over the seat.  
The woman nodded at this and smile.  
'Back in a sec.'  
Dean watched her leave, more out of habit than personal interest, then turned back to Cas; he looked white as a sheet.  
'Woah there Cas, what up buddy?'  
'Dean, I...' he stammered, looking around nervously. 'I haven't really had much experience in the illegal purchase and consumption of alcohol.'  
'To be clear Cas, have you got much experience in the legal purchase and consumption of alcohol?' asked Dean, smirking.  
Cas' expression shadowed.  
'Not to my recolection, no.' was the answer.  
'Well if you don't remember, then that might've mean you have.'  
Castiel's face went even more pale.  
'Although I think in this case its safe to say, no, you ain't ever had a drink before man.' chuckled Dean, reassuring him.  
Cas nodded slowly, calming down a little.  
'So will I not remember having this drink afterward?' he inquired after a few moments.  
'No dude, god we're not planning on getting totally hammered. We'll take it slow, have maybe one or two, which is really slow for me, but you gotta ease into it.'  
Man, it was like dealing with Sam all over again, was Dean the only one out there who knew how to drink properly?  
Cas nodded once more, finally taking in this new challenge. Although he did look a little shocked when the drinks finally arrived.  
'Here y'are guys, two beers, enjoy.' Said Meg, placing them down on the table and walking away.  
Dean looked up at Castiel, to see a look of confusion, as apposed to the previous look of terror.


End file.
